The Beauty of Great Expanse

Sedona, Arizona, from a distance

I rummaged about and found these photos I took a few years ago, when I last lived in Arizona. They were taken with my first digital camera, which didn't have a high number of megapixels, and so the resolution is not "gold star," but I think it does the job of bringing you the remarkable beauty of desert spaciousness. There is something about the vast stretches of desert that invites a variety of contradictory emotions. Because the desert is such a great expanse, there is hope that on the journey you'll find what you are looking for. Despair can come from the sheer desolation that you perceive to be a feature of the desert, even though, at closer observation, the desert teems with life. There is also a strong sense of the sacred to be found in the solemnity of desert silence. Whatever your reaction, the desert invites an emotional response, oftentimes an intense one. When I first moved to Arizona, I found myself both attracted and repelled by the desert. I could appreciate its austere beauty, but I felt it to be a lonely place, not realizing the great variety of life that makes the desert its home; it was also because the Midwestern part of me needed time to relate to the desert's profound beauty. But that actually happened, gradually at first, and as I continued to live here it came into full bloom. By the time I moved back to Chicago, the desert was thriving deep inside of me, leading me to eventually return to Arizona, so that the scenery in my heart could find its reflection in the beauty before my eyes.

Old building, Jerome, Arizona

Like Sedona, Jerome, Arizona, is the location for many art galleries and boutiques. This old mining town is perched upon a mountain overlooking the desert. If you were to stand here in Jerome, you could gaze out at the vast expanse...and be met by the red rocks of Sedona in the distance. Just beautiful.